Poets and Murder

The hardware dealer took him into the small room that served as bed-sitting-room and kitchen. While Hwang quickly wiped the greasy table with a rag, the judge sat down on a bamboo stool and told the woman:

'Third Uncle wrote me from the capital that your parents have died, cousin, but he gave me your address. Passing through here, I thought I'd drop in to offer you a few small gifts, for today's festival.'

She had opened the package and was looking with wide eyes at the bolt of cloth. He put her age at about forty. Her face was regular, but thin and deeply lined. Hwang exclaimed, startled:

'You're much too generous, cousin! Merciful Heaven, all that beautiful cloth! How could I ever return such a costly ...'

'Simple! By allowing a lonely traveller to have his Mid-autumn meal with his own relatives! I brought a trifling contribution along.' He lifted the lid of the basket, and gave Hwang the box with moon-cakes. Hwang's eyes were on the contents of the basket.

'Two whole ducks! Cut them up carefully, woman! And take a new bowl and cups from the shop! I have saved a small jar of wine for today's festival, but I'd never have dreamed we'd have meat with it! And such expensive smoked duck!’

He poured the judge a cup of tea, then made polite in­quiries about his guest's family in Canton, his business, and the journey he had behind him. Judge Dee told a convincing story, adding that he had to travel on that same afternoon. Then he said, 'We'll have one duck now; the other'll serve for tonight.'

Hwang raised his hand.

'Calamities of heaven and man may interfere between now and tonight, Cousin,' he declared solemnly. 'We'll eat our fill here and now!’ He turned to his wife, who had been listening to the conversation with a pleased smile on her care-worn face. 'I promise, woman, that not one bad word about your family shall ever pass my lips again!' She gave the judge a shy look and said:

'After that terrible affair, Cousin, nobody dared to come to see us any more, you see.'

'The general's case was talked about even down south,' the judge remarked. 'It was very sad that your sister did away with herself before the disaster, but when you look at it from the broader point of view of our family's interest, it was all for the best. It saved us from being drawn into the affair.' As Hwang and his wife nodded ponderously, he asked, 'What happened to I-wen?'

Hwang sniffed. 'I-wen? Only heard a couple of years ago that he had become a man of letters. Far too snooty to remem­ber his aunt!’

'Why did your sister do away with herself, Cousin? Was she treated badly in the general's house?'

'No, she wasn't,' the woman replied slowly. 'She was treated well, especially after she had borne I-wen, a sturdy, good-looking boy. But my sister was ...'

'She was a blasted ...' Hwang began. But his wife inter­rupted quickly: 'Mind your nasty tongue!’ And to the judge: 'She couldn't help it, really. Perhaps it was Father's fault, after all ...' She heaved a sigh and poured out the wine. 'Till she was fifteen she was a very quiet, obedient girl, you know, fond of animals. One day she came home with a small fox-baby she had found. When Father saw it, he became ter­ribly afraid, for it was a black one, you see, a vixen. He killed it at once. Then my sister got a fit, and she was never the same afterwards.'

The hardware dealer gave the judge an uneasy look. 'That lewd fox-spirit went into her.'

His wife nodded. 'Father hired a Taoist priest, and he said many spells, but he couldn't get the fox-spirit out. When she was sixteen, she was making eyes at every young man in sight. Since she was a looker, mother had to keep an eye on her from morning till night. Then an old woman who peddled combs and powder in the big house told father that the First Lady of General Mo was looking for a concubine for the old master. Father was very glad, and when sister had been taken to see the First Lady and she approved of sister, the deal was concluded. All went well; she had to work hard in the big house, but the First Lady gave her a new dress at each and every festival, and after she had borne I-wen, she wasn't beaten even once.'

'Had to spoil everything herself, the slut!' Hwang mut­tered. He hastily emptied his cup. His wife pushed a greying lock away from her forehead.

'One day I met the First Lady's maid in the market, and she said I was lucky to have a sister who didn't forget her own, who insisted on seeing her parents once every week. Then I knew there was something terribly wrong, for my sister hadn't come to see us for more than half a year. She did come afterwards, however. She was with child, and it wasn't the general's. I took her to a midwife who gave her all kinds of things to drink, but it didn't help. She bore a girl, told the general it had been a miscarriage, and had the child aban­doned in the street.'

'That's what she was!’ Hwang shouted angrily. 'A cruel, heartless fox-woman!’